Endurance Racing Provides a Fun, Season Finale for The Mid-Ohio School Instructors

LEXINGTON, Ohio (October 18, 2017) – Hot off winning his first SCCA National Championship at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month, Max Gee will team up with two of his fellow The Mid-Ohio School instructors Scott McKinley and Greg Vandersluis this weekend in the American Endurance Race (AER) event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Bill Burger is the fourth driver on the team, as well as co-owner along with McKinley of the car they’ll race.

“It’s the end of the year and kind of a last hoorah to the racing season. Not only are we the drivers, but we’re also our own pit crew this weekend,” said Scott McKinley, an instructor and fleet manager for The Mid-Ohio School. “This is low pressure, and we’re just going to go out and show what we can do as racers. It’s a great opportunity to show off The Mid-Ohio School too and do some team building.”

This race is all about fun for these four teammates. It’s composed of two eight-and-a-half hour endurance races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, with each driver completing roughly 80 to 100 laps over the two days. They’ll use two sets of tires and burn over 200 gallons of Sunoco 93 Octane gasoline in the hopes of repeating last year’s result.

“People from all levels of racing will compete in this event -SCCA, NASA, World Challenge, from amateurs to pro drivers,” said Max Gee, an instructor and assistant fleet manager for the school. “This is zero pressure and just racing for bragging rights. It’s something I look forward to each year.”

Last year the four-driver team included Tommy Byrne, another of the school’s instructors and a former Formula One competitor. Vandersluis is taking his spot in the driver’s seat this time around. There might be a little bit of pressure because they won the overall class standings last year by finishing first on Saturday and third on Sunday in the eight-plus hour endurance races. Greg will be the driver of the final leg; Max will lead it off both days with Scott and Bill handling the middle stints.

An anticipated 48 entries are expected for the event which starts with practice and qualifying on Friday. Look for the silver #75 car with The Mid-Ohio School logos affixed to it running up front again this weekend.

For updates and lap times, visit americanenduranceracing.com or download the free AER Mobile App. Or, follow The Mid-Ohio School on Twitter @MidOhioSchool for some periodic posts of the team’s experience. If you want to learn from the pros like Gee, McKinley or Vandersluis at one of the remaining driving school courses left this year, please visit www.midohioschool.com for class information and available dates.